


Picking Amaranth

by Moon_In_The_Stars



Series: Children of Olympus [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angst, Betrayal, Body Horror, Character Death, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Insanity, Love Confessions, M/M, Manipulation, Monsters, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Obsession, Partner Betrayal, Plot Twists, Running Away, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry, Stabbing, This is just the first part so there will be more (warning for the future lmao), Violence, Weapons, it's going to get bad, not joking, this is going to be dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-06-29 22:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15738369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_In_The_Stars/pseuds/Moon_In_The_Stars
Summary: All campers of Camp Half-blood are the sons and daughters of the Greek Gods, this Includes Virgil, Patton, Logan, and Roman. They had the Olympian blood coursing through their veins along with mortal blood as well. Things seemed to have been going fine until monsters started appearing within camp grounds and attacking demigods. Rumors begin to spread, death becomes inevitable, and the Titans appear to become just as strong as they were in the Second Olympian war. It's up to Virgil, Patton, Logan, Roman, and their friends to put a stop to the Titan race before they can come to power again.





	1. Cherries

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of Magical Violence and slight body horror. (Let me know if I missed any)

Virgil watched the city outside pass by the car window, staring the the skyscrapers touching the rain clouds above. The moment they had entered the city, Virgil had already prepared himself. He had been living at Dr. Picani’s house for a few months at the time, it was only a matter of time that he was returned to the orphanage. This had been the eighth house he had been sent off to, he was even starting to get comfortable. That was until the accident. He was doing so well, living with Dr. Picani for three months with no casualty until a few days ago.

He wasn’t even sure what to make of it. They had been walking in the field, like they had begun to do every Tuesday, tending to Picani’s Cherry Orchard. (Picani seemed to really like forest animals for some reason, he was even vegetarian.) While Picani had been showing Virgil his prized cherry tree, the plant life around them began to wilt and die under Virgil’s feet. Dr. Picani seemed to have been feeling physical pain as the plants perished around him, specifically when Virgil had accidently placed his palm against his Cherry trees. By the end of the hour, almost the entirety of the small orchard had withered. After the incident, Picani, who had previously been kind and patient with him, had begun to grow distant and detached from him. 

Virgil blinked, coming out of his trance, realizing he had been staring at the rain falling from the clouds above. He sighed and slowly pressed his fingers against the window, tracing the water droplets’ path with his fingers. Almost immediately, frost began to spread across the window, stemming from where his fingers landed. As though he could sense it, Dr. Picani glanced at the rearview mirror.

“You alright there, bud?” he asked softly. Virgil looked into the mirror, their eyes looking back at each other. Dr. Picani’s reddish-brown eyes looking back lovingly at Virgil’s dark brown ones. Virgil had always wondered about his eye color since they were kind of unnatural, Dr. Picani responding that he used pale pink contacts that had made his brown eyes slightly reddish. That made sense to Virgil, Picani seemed to really like pink. His fluff of hair was a pale cherry blossom pink that turned into a brighter pink at his roots, he had pink neck ties, pink socks, dark pink glasses, pink pajamas, hell, even his skin seemed to be a pale pink. Then again, he was probably imagining that last part. Everytime he mentioned Picani’s skin tone to others, they stated his skin wasn’t even pink, no one ever saw his pointed ears either, which concerned Virgil but he eventually began to ignore it.

“I’m fine.” Virgil responded, probably a bit too untruthful. 

“What’s wrong, V? I know something’s wrong. You can tell me, you know?” Virgil looked away, trying to focus on anything but Picani. 

“Just thinking.” 

“About what? You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to know.”

“About what the first thing I do at the orphanage is.” Virgil snapped. 

“Virgil-”

“Honestly, I’m surprised you hadn’t returned me sooner, this is a new record for me.” 

“Virgil, please-”

“I always screw things up, why did you even keep me for so long? I don’t know why you kept pretending that you even cared about me-”

“I don’t want to give you back, Virgil!” Picani cried. The car suddenly stopped and pulled over, Picani turned completely to face the gloomy teenager. Virgil noticed a certain shine in his eyes, almost like Picani was trying to hold back tears. “Please, Virgil, I- I don’t want to give you up. It’s just that, there’s… something I have to do. I have to figure things out, then… maybe we can be a family, like what you deserve!” 

“Oh really? What is so important that you have to leave me at the orphanage?”

“I… can’t tell you.” Picani looked down, as though even mentioning who what it is would get him in trouble. 

“Then clearly it’s more important than me.”

“Nonononono! Virgil! That’s not true! I promise, once I figure it out, I’ll finally adopt you! So we can be happy!” Picani gave him a weak smile. Virgil sighed in annoyance and looked back outside the window.

“Whatever, just keep driving. I’d rather be there sooner so I can set up my room for the eighth time.”

“But-” 

“Just drive, Picani.” Picani flinched at the mention of his last name and went back to driving in silence. He always prefered Virgil calling him Emile or Cherry.

Virgil thought things were going well, they had discussed adoption a few times and Picani had made it seem official too until yesterday, when Picani walked into Virgil’s ‘room’ with a somber expression and told him to pack his things.  Virgil sighed as he fought back tears, thinking about all the things he had done with Picani.

They went to camping the first Friday Virgil had been there. He knew it was almost winter, they had stayed in a cabin, but he enjoyed every second there. Picani seemed to have known how everything in the forest worked, Virgil pointed that out and he immediately got flustered. They had snowball fights, drank hot cocoa, read stories, and watched cartoons on a portable DVD player Picani brought to the cabin. When Virgil had fallen asleep, Picani brought him to his bed, wrapped him in the covers, and pressed a goodnight kiss on his forehead.

Virgil swallowed harshly and wrapped himself in his blanket, looking at the frost that had already began to thaw out.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Virgil? Wake up, buddy.” Virgil blinked a few times before focusing his eyesight. Picani was standing at the open car door, nudging him softly awake. “C’mon bud, we’re here.” He unbuckled the seatbelt and hopped out the car, ignoring Dr. Picani’s offers to hold his bags. The orphanage was in the middle of the city, far away from Picani’s cherry farm. It was an older looking building with a creepy alleyway on both sides, normally filled with druggies and alley cats or dogs. An older looking lady was standing at the entrance, a fake smile spread across her face. Virgil had lived at the orphanage for most of his life and knew that Ms. Aimal was no saint. She loved everyone except Virgil. Ms. Aimal treated everyone like her own children, yet when Virgil was dropped off at the Orphanage, she treated him like the scum of the earth. 

“Hello, Doctor Picani! Been a while, hasn’t it? Thought you’d never come back!” She said with a smile. Picani gave a disappointed frown.

“Well, I wasn’t planning to-” 

“Come on in, have a cup of tea! You’ve traveled a long way!” she grabbed Picani’s arm and dragged him in. Before completely disappearing with Picani, she turned to face Virgil with a face of pure hatred.

   “You can go to your room now. I expect to see you after dinner to discuss your punishments.” with that, Ms. Aimal left Virgil alone to take his things back to his room. He hated her so much, especially when she was around Picani. Virgil was 99% sure she liked him, most people did. When Picani first came to the adoption center, Virgil walked in on her trying to seduce him. Picani seemed oblivious to the whole situation and Virgil had to take him away from her before things got out of hand. Virgil understood why, Picani was a whole different form of beautiful, even Virgil could admit that. 

   Then again, that also made Virgil anxious about moving in with him. When people see others with kids, they have unnecessary expectations for those kids. If Picani was beautiful, Virgil would be expected to be too, even if he wasn't related to him in any way. In fact, the two couldn't look any more different. Virgil had messy black hair while Picani has soft pink hair (supposedly he was a natural blonde but Virgil wasn't sure about that), Picani’s supposed light brown eyes with Virgil's almost black eyes, and while Picani had beautiful fair skin, Virgil's skin looked like he hadn't seen the sun in years. He looked more like his mom-

   Virgil stopped himself from thinking more on the topic of his mother and took his things to his room. 

   He always had his own room since Ms. Aimal made sure he was always by himself. It hadn't even been touched since he left, dust was already covering his bed and drawers. He put his stuff in his closet, not caring about putting anything away. 

   “Virgil?” looking up, he spotted Picani standing in his doorway. “Can we talk? Please?” when Virgil didn't say anything, the therapist sat down on the dust covered bed. “Have you ever noticed… weird things happening to you at all?” He whispered so quietly, Virgil could barely hear him. 

   “Does this have to do with the Cherry Trees? I said I don't know what happened!’

   “And I believe you, but I need to know if this has been happening before I began to foster you. Can you tell me, please?”

   Virgil thought for a moment before replying. “Kinda? I’ve always had this kinda stuff happen to me. It mainly started happening when I turned 13.” Virgil noticed Picani grew slightly more nervous than before. 

   “What kind of things?”

   “I don't know? Everytime someone bullied me in school, they'd just kinda start screaming out of nowhere. They'd run away and later, they'd say they saw something scary but they're always too afraid to say what it is. And whenever I go to a hospital I feel sick, like I can feel when others are dying.” 

   “I… see…” Picani looked at Virgil intently before standing up again. “Thank you, Virgil. I'll be back for you soon, I promise.”

   “Why did you ask?”

   “I think… I know why you always have… misfortunate events such as these.”

   “Why is this happening to me?”

   “You seem to… be very much like your father.” 

   “What do you know about my dad?” Virgil questioned, curious about how much Picani knew about his dad.

   “H-he’s-” There was suddenly a loud boom of thunder, the rain fell more harder, and the ground began to shake. Picani yelped and quickly made his way to the door.

   “I'm s-sorry, Virgil. I need to go!” With that, Picnic walked out of the room without another word. Virgil sighed and layed in bed after dusting off his covers. Why did everything always have to be weird when it came to him?

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


   Blinking awake for the third time that day, Virgil sat up in his bed, groaning as his muscles ached. He glanced outside and saw that the moon was already out, meaning he probably missed dinner. He hopped off the bed and began to get ready to go downstairs when he saw a charm necklace  sitting on his nightstand that wasn’t there before. Picking it up, the smell of cherry blossoms made him instantly aware that it was left by Picani. The necklace was made of a sort of black steel with purple flower charms hanging off of it. Only one of the charms war different than the rest, resembling a rectangular gemstone. After picking up the necklace, there was a small piece of paper sitting where the necklace previously was. ‘ _ The gemstone on this necklace is an Amethyst, it has supposed healing properties that can relieve stress and calm the wearer in difficult times. Keep it on you always, it it more than a necklace. -Love Emile.’ _

   Virgil looked back at the gemstone, realising how big it was. The entire gem can fit in his hand, yet it was extremely light, almost like a feather. After a couple of seconds, he put the necklace on, the scent of flowers and cherries so strong it almost overwhelmed him, and ran down stairs.

   When he got to the kitchen, Gáta, Virgil’s black alley cat, leapt behind him with Ms. Aimal chasing after him with a broom.

   “FILTHY CREATURE!” Gáta hissed at her and continued to run around the room, dropping plates and silverware onto the floor. Ms. Aimal shoved Virgil out of her way, into the wall, screaming so horridly that it sounded as though she were hissing. “MOVE, BOY!” 

   “Stop!” he shouted, scooping up a sprinting Gáta. “He’s not bad, he’s just moody today.”

   “What are you talking about? That thing,” she pointed at Gáta with a twisted snarl, “has been coming into this building ever since the day you left! Do you have an explanation for this?”

   “I kinda started taking care of him?” 

   “YOU LET THAT HELLSPAWN IN HERE?”

   “His name is Gáta! And yes, I did, I’ve been taking care of him since I’ve been brought here! Do you have a problem with that?” Virgil could have sworn Ms. Aimal’s eyes flashed a bright green for a split second.

   “As a matter of fact, yes, I do. This is why no one ever wants you.” Her smiled turned wicked as she ignored the hissing cat in Virgil’s arms. “You think I want you here? I’d be much happier if you were dead, yet here you are. You always screw up when it comes to foster homes. Do you want to know why? Because of behavior like this.” She pointed a sharp finger at him. Wait, sharp? “Wouldn’t surprise me if you dad left you because of this. Your mom probably even hated you. Your mother must’ve had something wrong with her if you came out the way you did-”

   “What do you know about my mom!?” Virgil screamed. “I barely got to know my mom! All I know is that she cared about everyone! Maybe even cruel pieces of shit like you! So maybe you should go back to hell where you belong!” In a split second, everything happened all at once. Ms. Aimal’s entire body began to shrivel and harden, her arms becoming covered in scales, lizard like claws replacing where her hands where. Her blue eyes turned to a glowing green, serpentine slits instead of pupils, and her smile twisted and stretched, literally reaching ear to ear, sharp crocodile jaws instead of human teeth. 

   A sharp screech came from Ms. Aimal- no, that monster, and she leapt at Virgil, her gaping mouth wide open. Gáta, who was hissing at the monster the whole time, suddenly felt heavy in Virgil’s arms. In a flash of red light, Gáta was the size of a bison, the white of his eyes turning a fiery orange and his iris a bright yellow. Gáta leapt at the monster, baring his claws, stopping it from getting any closer to Virgil. Both creatures began to claw and scratch at each other, Gáta, being the largest, shoving Ms. Aimal into the table and sinking his teeth into her neck. There was a horrible scream that slowly died out, Ms. Aimal exploding into a giant cloud of green dust. 

   Virgil stood, petrified after witnessing what had just happened. What did just happen? Before Virgil could have any time to think about what had just happened, Gáta grabbed Virgil by his hoodie and tossed him onto his furry back.

   “W-wait hold on-” Gáta sprinted out of the orphanage, into the middle of the street. He paused for a moment, sniffing the air, before sprinting down the street again. Virgil held onto Gáta’s neck fur tightly, which didn’t seem to bother the giant cat, and questioning all his life decisions up to this point. 

   Finally looking up, Virgil saw Gáta was heading straight towards a wall covered in shadows.

   “Gáta! Stop!” Either Gáta didn’t hear or didn’t listen, Virgil never knew. Virgil watched in horror as Gáta practically leapt into the shadows, literally. For a few moments, they were surrounded by literal darkness, an eerie silence giving Virgil goosebumps. After a few seconds of nothing, they were both in a snow covered field that was vaguely familiar to Virgil. 

   “Wait… it this- Picani!” Virgil cried when he spotted the small farm house he had stayed in for months. Picani was standing outside the house talking to someone on a phone, seeming worried. 

   “I know what I smelled! ...I- I don’t know! Maybe she’s buying her time? How am I supposed to know? I’m not a monster! Y-yes Mr. D…. I just think-” Picani turned around and spotted Virgil and nearly dropped his phone. “I-I’ll need to call you back!” He hung up quickly and ran over to the teenager. “Virgil! What are you doing here? How did you even get here?” 

   “Gáta brought me here.” 

   “Gáta?” Just then, Gáta, who was hiding in the fields, showed himself and Picani nearly fainted. “WHAT IS THAT THING DOING HERE?!” Picani practically screeched. 

   “I honestly have no idea! I was just having a fight with Ms. Aimal when-”

   “Wait! You had a fight with Lamia?!” Virgil became confused.

   “Who’s Laimia?” 

   “Ms. ‘Aimal’ never existed, who that was was the Demigod Lamia! Daughter of Hecate but turned into a monster by Hera after her affair with Zeus!” Picani began to become hysterical.

   “Uh, Picani? Are you feeling ok?” 

   “NO! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE!?” 

   “Gáta saved me.” 

   “That thing saved you from Laimia?” Picani was noticeably uncomfortable near Gáta.

   “I’m beginning to think you’re insane. What’s with you and greek mythology?” At the word ‘Mythology’ there was a bolt of lightning that landed nearby, yet not close enough to harm them.

   “The gods don’t like being called ‘myths’, Virge. Also, you’re questioning me when you’re standing next to a eight foot tall cat that probably weighs one thousand pounds?”

   “You got me there.” From the middle of the field, a familiar screech echoed throughout the area.

   “She’s back.” Gáta’s hairs raised on his back when he heard the scream. “Virgil, listen to me. The Greek gods are real, you’re not dreaming, I am not human, and neither are you… well not completely anyway.”

   “Wait what-”

   “I’m a wood nymph, that,” He pointed at Gáta,”is a hellcat. Pretty much a hellhound, just faster. Laimia is a monster created by Hera, the wife of Zeus, and she’s blood thirst for any Half-Blood like yourself.” 

   “Why?”

   “Her children were killed so she vowed to have all other Half-Bloods killed so Hera would know her pain of losing children.” There was another screech, much closer than the one before. “We have to go now, get on the hell- er, Gáta. Now.” Gáta kneeled, giving the two of them excess to his back. Virgil seemed calm about the whole situation, but on the inside he was screaming about literally everything ever. What had Picani meant about being not human? Virgil didn’t have much time to think before Gáta began to run into the field.

   "Wait- where are we going?” 

   “Camp Half-Blood.” Picani answered, mainly to Gáta than Virgil. The monstrous feline meowed (roared?) in understanding and ran into a shadow like he had done before. They were, once again, in complete darkness.

   “What is this place?” Virgil asked.

   “We’re shadow traveling, I hope I don’t have to explain it any further, it’s pretty self explanatory.”

   “Yeah, pretty much.” The next second, they appeared on a hill covered with trees.

   “Ok, we’re here. Let go.” Picani urged Virgil off of the giant cat’s back.

   “I’m still confused, where are we?” 

   “Half-Blood Hill, now please hurry-” Picani was interrupted by a deep snarl from behind him. The two of them turned to see the head of a lion poke out from the trees. Picani put an arm out to keep Virgil from getting closer to it. “Stay back, Virge. I don’t know what a lion is doing here but I’m sure we can-” 

   “Picani, look!” The lion began to slowly make its way closer, showing an extra head, a goat head, attached to its neck. Its hind legs resembled that of a goat and instead of a goat tail, there was an emerald serpent hissing at them. Virgil noticed the inside the mouths of the goat and lion head seemed to be glowing from within, as though there were flames inside.

   “What is that thing?”

   “The Chimera.” When it’s name was said, the monster leaped at them, barely missing Virgil as Picani shoved him out of the way. 

   “Gáta!” Virgil turned to his giant pet cat to see him passed out. “Why is he sleeping?!” 

   “Shadow Travel makes the person or thing extremely tired, it did it twice in a row, no doubt it’s tired!” Virgil heard the Chimera growling behind him. The moment he turned around, flames erupted from its mouth. Virgil panicked and held his arms out in front of him, as though that would stop the flames from coming at him. As he held out his hands, the earth in front up him shot upwards, shielding him from the inferno. Virgil froze in confusion, unsure on what had happened, apparently the Chimera did as well since it took a few moments to get over it’s initial shock and hopped onto the elevated chunk of earth to have higher ground. 

   “Virgil! Grab the amethyst!” 

   “The what?”

   “The Amethyst on you necklace, grab it with your dominant hand and rip it off.”

   “But-”

   “Just do it!” Virgil did as he was told, gripped the gemstone with his left and, and tore it off the chain of his necklace. Almost instantly, the stone turned into the grip of a black berserker battle axe, encested with more amethyst and other purple jewels. Virgil felt instincts kick in and he caused more chunks of rock to levitate, throwing them at the beast. The Chimera leapt off the mound just in time not to be crushed, quickly turning and blasting Virgil with more fire. He quickly dodged out of the way and levitated the rock beneath him and the Chimera. The monster took this as an opportunity to spring forward at Virgil, who expected the Chimera to think this. With the beast’s mouth wide open, he shot a rock into both of its mouths and hopped out of the way of its claws. The Chimera landed and attempted to crush the rocks in it’s mouths as Virgil swung his axe directly into its throat. The snake head made a final attempt to bite the boy, but Virgil cut off the snake head instantly. After a few seconds, the monster erupted into flames, disappearing in the smoke. Once it was clear, Virgil dropped back down, the stones he was controlling falling just as he touched the ground.

   He found Picani behind Gáta breathing unevenly, struggling to even his breathing. 

   “Oh my gods! Virgil! Are you ok? Did it hurt you? Did you get bitten? You’re alright, aren’t you? Please tell me you are!”

   “I’m fine, I promise.” Picani let out a sigh of relief. 

   “Oh thank Gods.” 

   “Hey, where did you get this axe?” Picani stared at him, unsure whether to answer or not.

   “It’s… a gift from your father. He wanted to give it to you since you were born but he wouldn’t, wanting to give it to you when the time came.”

   “Who is my dad?” Picani sighed, giving Virgil an unclear expression.

   “I’m… not allowed to say. When he chooses to say who he is, then that is when you’ll know. Let’s get to camp, bud.” Virgil looked down at the axe in his hand as it slowly turned back into the rectangular amethyst from before. He hooked it back to his necklace and followed Picani up the hill. Once they reached the top, Gáta came running up, back to his smaller form.

   “What’s up with him?” Virgil watched as he didn’t move any closer up the hill.

   “He’s a monster, they’re not allowed in camp.” Picani turned and faced the cat. “I, Emile Cherry Picani, give you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood.” After he was given permission, Gáta continued with them into the camp, which seemed to be asleep. “Hmmm… guess everyone is in bed.”

   “Hello?” A soft voice asked. Both of them turned to see a boy maybe a year older than Virgil with light blue eyes, curly dirty blonde hair, and a face covered in freckles. He seemed to be wearing cat pj’s and holding a dog plushie. “Who are you?”

   “Ah, Patton, It’s me, Emile. I was just bringing in a new camper, his name is Virgil.” Patton thought for a few moments, looking at the new camper in front of him and smiled.

   “Well hello there, Virgil! I’m Patton! Patton Minett! Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!”

 


	2. Welcome to Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is very confused, and not about his sexuality (but that too I guess)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of swearing and innuendos and crap like that. Idk if I missed any more triggers but ye. Tell me if I missed any

Patton smiled as he held his hand out, but Virgil didn’t take it. He simply stared at the beaded necklace around his neck. It had four beads, all in a different shade of light blue, and a white heart charm with glasses that read “P.M.”

“Uh, hey? Um, so what’s up with your necklace?” Patton looked slightly disappointed when Virgil didn’t shake his hand, but quickly flashed him a smile as he held out his necklace.

“Oh! This ol’ thing? All campers get one with a bead for everytime they survive the year! I’ve survived four so far!”

“Survived? What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well you see, kids like us are always attacked by vicious monsters and stuff like that! So every year we get one of these to pretty much say ‘Yay! You didn’t die yet!’. I’m about to get my fifth one, but I hope I’m not jinxing it.” He giggled. 

“Ok, now I’m just confused, what do you mean, ‘kids like us’? What are we?” Patton stared at Virgil, confused, then back at Picani. He pushed up his round glasses and looked at his nymph friend. 

“He doesn’t know?” Picani looked back at him awkwardly.

“Well… I didn’t think it was the best time to tell him since we were being chased by monsters-”

“Wouldn’t that be the perfect time though?” Patton asked.

“...yeah… You can go ahead and explain.” Patton lit up in excitement. 

“Okokokokokokok! So basically, we’re all half human! And- and, uh!” He began to stutter in enthusiasm. “I’m Patton Minett, twin brother of Dani Minett and son of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty!” Virgil would have bursted out laughing if Picani didn’t look so serious.

“Wait- You’re the actual son of Aphrodite?”

“Yupper, kiddo! And you’re the son of..?” He signaled me to continue the sentence. Truth is, he never knew his dad. His mom always told him he was the most interesting, mysterious, quiet, and caring man she had ever met. Yet, before he was even born, his father left, leaving his mother to raise him on her own. She would tell him stories about their dates together, the way they danced in the moonlight, when he had shown her parts of a cave she had never known, and when they first met at her bakery. He always wondered why he left. Why did he leave his mom? She said he had to move due to work, but if he truly loved her, he would’ve come back before she…

“I… don’t know my father, and my mom is...” Patton’s eyes went wide.

“Oh my gods! I didn’t know, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you!”

“It’s whatever. I don’t care.” Patton sensed he was lying, literally since he had empathetic powers, but decided against saying something about it.

“I’m guessing your mom is a mortal?”

“A what?”

“A mortal! Human!”

“Well, I’d be surprised if she wasn’t.” 

“That means… Oh! What if your dad is Ares? Maybe Hermes?” 

‘Wait- I’m not part god, this has to be a mistake. I’m just a human!” 

“Virgil,” Picani placed his hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true-”

“No!” Virgil shoved Picani’s hand off his shoulder. “I’m not a demigod! I don’t want to be a demigod! I didn’t ask for this!”

“No one does, kiddo. But, we have to live with it. We don’t choose our parents.”

“Still-” 

“V, only half bloods can enter campgrounds. You have Geokinesis, do you really think any mortal can do that?” Virgil thought for a moment. He didn’t really think about it. 

“I… I guess not…”

“I know it doesn’t make sense now, but it’s who you are. It’s in your blood. It’s a part of you.”

“Wait, kids are supposed to be claimed by the parents at age 13. Why haven’t you been claimed yet? How old are you?” Patton asked.

“I… don’t know? I'm 14 right now..”

“Well, does Mr. D know he’s here?” Patton looked up at the nymph next to Virgil. 

“He knows he was coming so I’m sure it’s fine. Maybe you two should go bed, mind showing him to Cabin eleve-”

“He can sleep in my cabin! I’m sure nobody will mind!” Picani considered this for a moment, unsure if he should allow it.

“Maybe you should ask your mother, she might not-” On cue, a dove appeared from the woods, landed on Virgil’s shoulder, and nudged him affectionately. Picani simply stared at the random bird. “Uh, are you here on Aphrodite's behalf?” The dove cooed, Picani looking at it as though he can understand what it was saying. After a few moments, it fluttered around them before disappearing. 

“Well, uh, she said that she has to admit that you’re very handsome despite not being her son so she’ll allow you to stay in her cabin for as long as you need or want to.”

“Well isn’t she so ni-” 

“Watch yourself, V. I wouldn’t speak ill of a goddess.” Virgil wanted to talk back but noticed Patton nodding his head, slight fear in his eyes. 

“Well, c’mon Virgil! Lemme take you to my cabin!” Before he could object, Patton grabbed his arm and dragged him towards a what looked like a dollhouse. The moment Patton opened the door, the smell of perfume overwhelmed him, causing him to cough loudly, waking the other campers that were inside. 

Virgil had to admit, they were all very attractive. All of them had awoken only moments ago and their hair looked like they had spent hours fixing it. They all looked different from each other despite all being half siblings. The one that stood out the most was a boy in the corner next to an empty bed filled with stuffed animals. Virgil, personally, found the boy more attractive than everyone else in the cabin. He had soft, mousey brown hair, the only one to have his hair not look fixed, which Virgil found to be hotter, hazel eyes, body built like a runner, and a beautiful tan. The boy even seemed taller than him, which was odd since Virgil was unnaturally tall for his age. 

“Sorry! I just thought about bringing a new camper into our cabin! Mom said he can stay. His name is Virgil…” Patton looked back at him. “I never got your last name, heh.” 

“Oh, um… Sanchez, Virgil Sanchez.” Most of the cabin mates simply went back to bed after the announcement, while others said hello to him. One of these kids was a girl that looked very similar to Patton. 

“Hello! I'm Dani, Patton's twin sister!” she smiled at him, almost identical to Patton. 

“Uh, hi.” Virgil wasn't used to so many people looking at him, especially people as beautiful as them. 

“We have an extra bed in the back, I'll go get it! You can sleep next to Pat if you want. “ Dani left towards the back of the cabin. Virgil felt extremely awkward but went along with it since it'd be rude to turn down their hospitality. Patton lead him to where he'd be sleeping, next to the bed covered in plushies. The boy with hazel eyes was still awake, watching him. Virgil made eye contact and immediately flushed, looking away before things got even more uncomfortable. 

Dani came back with a very plush looking mattress and soft lavender blankets. She placed the bed next the the mystery boy's (Virgil wasn't blushing, he swears) and Patton jumped onto his bed. Virgil realized he didn't have any pj's and sat awkwardly on his bed. 

“Uh, Patton? Do I just sleep in this or...?” 

“Oh! Sorry! Lemme help you with that.” Patton snapped his fingers and Virgil's T-shirt and jeans turned into purple flannel pj's. 

“Oh, thanks..?” Virgil took off his necklace and placed it next to his pillow. He laid down, looking up at the ceiling. At this point, he was expecting to wake up from some crazy dream but he also hoped he didn't. He always imagined going on some magical adventure, maybe this was his chance. Or maybe he'd be killed, but that would be just as good.

Virgil heard Patton snoring softly next to him, Dani was across the room reading, and the boy next to him was probably already asleep. 

He had no idea how long it was before he went to bed that night. 

 

 

* * *

  
  
  


“Virgil? Wake up.” Virgil opened his eyes to see hazel eyes staring down at him. 

“Wha..? Who are y-” His eyes finally focused and he realized the eyes belonged to the boy who slept next to him. 

“Get up, Mr. D wants to chat with you.”

“Where’s Patton?” 

“Picking strawberries, now c’mon.” The boy held out his hand which Virgil took a bit too quickly. Virgil noticed his clothes changed into a pair of ripped jeans, an orange t-shirt with the initials ‘C.H.B.’ on it, and his hoodie. He quickly grabbed his necklace and put it on. The boy pulled him up and dragged him out towards a big building towards the front of the camp. While they walked past several other cabins, Virgil noticed several other campers, nymphs, and… goat people? Wow, ok. This place is weird. 

“Hey, who-”

“I’m Roman Flores.” Roman cut him off before he could even finish his question. Virgil frowned. That wasn’t what he was going to ask.

“I was going to ask-”

“No, I’m not the son of Aphrodite.” That actually surprised him. The kid was very attractive, how was he not the son of Aphrodite?

“Th-”

“I’m the son of Ares, god of war.” Ok, now this was pissing him off.

“I was going to ask, who-”

“I already told you, Ares is-”

“WHO’S MR. D?” Virgil shouted over him. 

“That would be me.” A short pudgy man walked out of the big house, Picani following him out. He was sipping a diet coke and definitely looked like he didn’t want to be there. “So I’m guessing you’re Vaginal Pumpkin, the new camper.” 

“Actually, I’m Virgil Sanchez.” he corrected, Roman choked back a laugh behind him. Virgil was really starting to not like him.

“What’d I say? And what are you laughing at, Ramen Fucker?”

“I, uh… nothing, sir.” Roman suddenly seemed uncomfortable to be in front of Mr. D.

“Good, now get your ass to breakfast.” Roman bowed awkwardly and ran off. “So, Vaginal-”

“Virgil.”

“Whatever. Heard ya came around midnight, with Chichi over here,” he jerked his thumb towards Picani. “And THAT thing.” He pointed towards the ground, revealing a small black cat with familiar red eyes. 

“Gáta!” Virgil scooped up the cat who purred affectionately. 

“How sweet, a family reunion. Want me to call daddy too?” Both Virgil and Gáta snarled at Mr. D.

“Don’t talk about my father!” Mr. D seemed surprised by the reaction but quickly looked at him with a face of loathing. 

“Watch your tone with me, boy.” He stepped closer to Virgil, expecting him to step back but he never did.

“Then don’t mention my father!” 

“Virge!” Picani stepped between the two and pushed them both away from each other. “Let’s try not to have Virgil turned into a dolphin yet, D.” he chuckled nervously. He bent down and whispered to Virgil. “Don’t start insulting him. Mr. D is…”

“Dionysus, God of wine, punk. So, if you don’t want to get turned into a rat, I suggest you stop giving me your attitude.” He took a giant gulp of his diet coke, finishing it, before continuing. “Now, since you don’t have a godly parent who’s claimed you yet, you have to stay in cabin eleven-” 

“He’s staying in my cabin, Mr. D!” All three of them turned to see Patton running up to them. He was wearing the same orange shirt that Virgil was wearing, a grey cardigan around his shoulders, and a flowy peach skirt. 

“Of course he is. Fine, Pat, go take Vaginal to breakfast, I need to talk to Chichi about something.” The two adults walked into the Big House, leaving the two kids alone with a hellcat. 

“Thanks Pat-”

“YOU’RE HAIR IS PURPLE? THAT’S SO COOL!” Virgil realized he was talking about his purple bangs.

“Oh, yeah-”

“I THOUGHT I WAS JUST SEEING THINGS BUT YOU’RE HAIR IS ACTUALLY PURPLE! HOW’D YOU DO THAT?” Gáta hissed at Patton, catching his attention. “OH MY GODS! YOU HAVE A CAT?” 

“Oh yeah, his name is Gáta.” Patton looked at him, concerned. 

“Did you name your cat ‘cat’ in greek?” 

“Heh, yeah. Thought no one would notice.”

“I LOVE HIM!... But I’m allergic to cats…” Patton said like he had barely realized his allergies, backing away. 

“Oh, sorry.” Virgil placed Gáta down behind him. 

“It’s fine, Kiddo! Well, let’s head to breakfast! Since you sleep with us, you can sit at our table.” Patton grabbed his hand and brought him towards the dining tables, Gáta following closely behind them. 

Once they got there, Virgil noticed Roman was sitting at a different table from the Aphrodite kids. The table with the Ares kids was filled with rough looking kids who clearly liked to roughhouse. Roman was sitting next to the oldest kid at the table who was less violent than the rest of the them. Virgil witnessed a kid stab the table with a dagger, seemingly for fun. Roman was shouting at a kid from another table full of blondes. The other boy had platinum blonde hair, grey eyes hidden behind blue glasses, a camp shirt (That had a collar sewn on for some reason), and a blue tie. Virgil couldn’t hear them over all the Ares kids but he thought he overheard them arguing about the correct way to pronounce  _ spathí.  _

Sword.  _ Spathí  _ meant sword. He didn’t know how he knew what it meant but he silently agreed with the blonde boy on the pronunciation.

“Heya, Patt! ‘Sup, Virgil!” Dani called from the Aphrodite table. 

“Hi, Dani!” Patton said, sitting down next to her. Virgil didn’t say anything, but gave her an awkward smile. She stared at Virgil for a split second before her eyes went wide.

“Your hair is purple!”

“Uh, yeah?”

“HOW’D YOU DO THAT? THAT’S SO COOL!” Both Minett twins cried, amazed by the purple pigment in Virgil’s hair. 

“The most plausible scenario is that he used artificial coloring and applied it to his hair to dye it the unnatural color that it is.” The blonde kid from the other table said, not looking up from his book,  _ Fantastiká thirí pou vrÍskontai kai pós na ta skotósoun. _

“Oh. Thanks, Logy!” Patton said with a slightly flushed face.

“Of course, Patton. Also, the name is Logan, we’ve discussed this before.”

“But Logy is cute! Just like you!” Logan went several shades pinker and finally glanced up from his book to look Patton in the eyes.

“Um- Thanks, Patton.” He turned and noticed Virgil studying him. “Greetings, I am assuming you are the new camper Roman has been talking about, Virgil Sanchez. My name is Logan Phillips, son of Athena, goddess of wisdom and war strategies. And you are the son of..?” he waited for an answer. Virgil felt a lump in his throat. Did everyone know who their parents are? Was he the only one who hasn’t been claimed yet?

“Oh, I… haven’t been claimed yet…” Virgil said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Logan gave him a puzzled look.

“Are you not fourteen years old? Gods are to claim their children when by the time they are thirteen. Perhaps your parent is waiting for the singalong at the campfire, most do.” 

“Or maybe he’ll be the first one to never be claimed since special little Jackson left camp.” Roman said from the other table. A few of the Ares kids turned to stare at Virgil, making him anxious. 

“Relax, Ro. Let the kid at least survive his first day here.” The older kid of the Ares cabin said. He seemed like a natural leader, which was odd since, from what he knew of Ares, being a leader wasn’t exactly the way the god of war liked to do things. 

“Hey, we haven’t fought him… yet.” 

“HEY, LIL SHITS!” all the campers turned to Mr. D, who was holding a diet pepsi. Picani was standing next to him, along with… a centaur? Yeah, ok. That’s totally normal now. A centaur was standing next to Picani and, from what he heard from Patton, he was a activity director or something like that. “It’s breakfast time so shut your traps while I talk. We got a new camper, Vaginal Pumpkin-”

“Actually, his name is…” Picani looked awkwardly at Virgil. He didn’t get why he was so unsure of his name. It’s never changed, so what was wrong? “...Virgil Sanchez.”

“Yeah yeah, hurrah or whatever, he’s staying in Aphrodite’s cabin for reasons I don’t really care about and he’ll probably be claimed at the campfire so I really don’t expect him to be there much longer. Anyway, besides that, Capture the Flag tomorrow, Athena vs Ares, again. Anyway, make your offerings to the gods and eat.” Mr. D waved his hand and gulped down his entire can of soda.

As they all lined up to make their offerings, Virgil heard Patton make his offering to his mom. Virgil wasn’t sure who he should pray to but he ultimately decided on Aphrodite since she gave him permission to stay in her cabin. He felt kinda dumb for dumping food into the fire, but he wouldn’t be the only one doing it so it wasn’t too bad. When he scraped his food into the fire, instead of smelling smoke, the smell of freshly baked Conchas and pan dulce hit him almost immediately. The smell of the mexican bread reminded him of his mother, when she’d wake him up early on Saturdays so they can spend their whole day making them for her bakery. He missed the bakery, it was one of the only places he truly called home. 

“Virgil, are you alright?” He looked up to see Picani in front of him. Virgil hadn’t even noticed he was there. 

“Uh, yeah.” Virgil walked away from the fire before Picani could continue. The moment he sat back down, the Minett twins began to drown him with questions. 

“What is dye?”

“What’s dye made from?”

“Where can I dye my hair?” 

“Do all mortals dye their hair?”

“What colors can I dye it?” 

“Does your hair really die?”

“GUYS!” Virgil shouted over them.

“Gals!” Dani replied.

“And non-binary pals!” Patton finished.

“Wha- You know what? I don’t care. Anyway-”

“Anygay.”

“You can dye your hair yourself, any color you want, whenever you want, however you want. I dye my hair myself.”

“Wait, can you dye  _ all _ of your hair?” Patton asked.

“Well, yeah. I don’t know why you would-” 

“I want to dye my whole head baby blue!”

“And I want lavender!” 

“Oh, well… I’m sure I could help with that-” 

“REALLY?” Both Minett twins looked at him with excitement. 

“Sure? I don’t really have any dye though…” The twins were looking at him sadly and he suddenly felt a strong urge to make them happy by any means necessary.

“Pleeeaassseeee, Virgy?” Patton begged. 

“Patton, please stop using charmspeak on Virgil, let him get through at least one day without being manipulated by one of you.” Picani suddenly appeared next to the trio. 

“Sorry, Emile! I forget I’m doing it sometimes.” 

“It’s alright, just try not to, ok?” Patton nodded, giving him a kind smile before continuing to eat breakfast. “Virgil, can I talk to you for a second?”

“But we have archery-”

“I know, but this is kinda important. If you’re late, I’ll let the camper in charge of Archery know, alright?” Virgil nodded, suddenly very anxious. Picani wasn’t usually upset, not that he was, but Picani was usually very cheerful and silly. The wood nymph lead him towards the woods, stopping right before the entrance. 

“Did… did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not, kiddo. I just need to talk to you about something.” Picani waved his hand and chairs made of pink cherry tree roots appeared behind him and Virgil. Virgile hesitantly sat down across from Picani. It felt like the weirdest therapy session in the world. A wood nymph being the therapist to a demigod next to a magical forest.

“So? What is it?” 

“I need to discuss a few things with you. First, Gáta. Mr. D agreed to let him stay in camp, but he is to stay in the stables at all times unless he says otherwise.”

“Well, I guess that’s fair.”

“Next, your dad-” 

“What about him?” Virgil sat up suddenly.

“He… might not show himself tonight, Gods are…” Picani paused to find the right words, as to not insult the gods. “...difficult. They tend to show themselves whenever they please, even if it’s inconvenient for you.” 

“But Patton said-” 

“I know what Patton said, but not every god follows the rules. Sometimes, they lose track of their kid. Sometimes, they just don’t care. It’s up to them in the end.” Virgil looked back down at his feet. 

“Guess I’m not that important…”

“That’s not true! Gods are immortal, so they see their children as insignificant at times. Their lives are so short compared to their parent’s. Most magical creatures live longer than humans..”

“How old are you?” Picani seemed surprised about the question but decided to answer it anyway.

“Well, as a tree nymph, a Karneiai specifically, I live up to twice as long as mortals sooooo… about the equivalent to a thirty-nine year old mortal. In reality, I’m seventy-eight years old.” Virgil choked on air the moment he heard that.

“SEVENTY-EIGHT?” Picani looked very young and attractive, even for a thirty-nine year old. How could someone so young and healthy-looking be so old? 

“Yes, I’m far from being a 90’s kid.” 

“No kidding.” Picani smiled down at the half blood. He always enjoyed to talking to Virgil, the teenager’s slighty gloomy attitude contridicting his bubbly one. Soon, that feeling of content dissipated to one of uneasiness. “I… have one last thing to tell you…” Picani tapped his foot nervously, trying to phrase his next sentence carefully. “Your name…”

“What about it?” 

“On your paperwork for camp… it’s… different.” Picani pulled out a file, Virgil assumed it was his own, and handed it over to him. Virgil stared at it for a moment, feeling anxiety creeping up on him. His hands moved slowly when he opened the file, reading the words on the paper almost instantly.

_ Camp Half-blood _

_ Legal Name: Virgil Sanchez Picani _

_ Mother: Diana Sanchez (Deceased)  _

_ Father: Unknown _

_ Resident cabin: Cabin 10 (Aphrodite’s)  _

_ School: Homeschooled _

_ Gender: Male (He/him) _

_ Age: 14 (July 15th) _

_ Hometown: Durango, Santiago Papasquiaro (Mexico) _

_ Current residence: Picani’s cherry Farm _

_ Legal Guardian/Adoptive Father: Emile Cherry Picani (Wood Nymph)  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and correct my spelling   
> *dabs out*


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil trying to feel at home despite being miles away from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was co-written by my platonic wife Hela <3
> 
> TW: lots of swearing, innuendos, and sexual humor (there's gonna be a lot of those things), and Roman being a meanie butt (tell me if I need to add anymore

“This is impossible!”

Logan glanced up from his book towards Roman, who had his head in his hands. The son of Athena had pulled the son of Ares aside after their activities to tutor him in Greek, something they had been doing for months.

Logan turned back to his book with a sigh. “Try sounding it out Roman.”

“I have been!”

Logan, at this point, was annoyed. “Out loud.”

“Mi toínyn anánkaze ó mí kalón estin aischrón eínai, midé ó mí agathón, kakón.” Roman stared at the piece of paper before slamming his face down on the table. He mumbled something incoherent, most likely a curse towards the entirety of the Greek language, and seemed to sag in defeat.

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Roman wasn’t the easiest person to teach, but he was willing to learn and caught on to things pretty quickly. Logan would never admit it out loud, but Roman was very smart when he pushed himself to it. The real struggle wasn't reading the words after all, it was more associating the words with their meanings. It probably didn't help that Roman also knew several other languages which were most likely also confusing him. Perhaps moving so soon onto writings such as the Symposium was not the smartest thing to do. Logan gently tugged the paper out of Roman’s hand and placed it on the table in front of him. The words laid out in front of him in his clean, crisp handwriting, stating a simple phrase. 

    “Roman.” The boy in question titled his head up to look at Logan, which the son of Athena took as an invitation to continue. “What are you specifically having trouble with?”

    Roman mumbled something, but at Logan’s confused look, he spoke up and gestured at the paper. “It doesn’t make any sense. The words, the sentence, all of it.” He buried his head under his arms. “I’m hopeless.”

    “Very few people are hopeless cases, Roman. The fact that your reading and writing skills have improved over these past few months is clear evidence of that.” Logan pulled out a pen and uncapped it. “Now, let’s take this sentence apart--”

    “Hey dork!” A girl with light blonde hair and blue glasses slid up next to Logan with a grin. “Whatcha doing?”

    “They’re probably chatting about boys again, Hela.” A boy with black hair and grey eyes sat down next to Roman and wrapped an arm around Roman’s shoulders.

    “Hela. Jensen. What brings you two over here?” Logan asked dryly.

    “Can’t we just check in on our baby bros?” Hela noticed the piece of paper in front of Logan and snatched it quickly, sticking her tounge out at Logan when he reached for it. Her eyes scanned over the paper and she fake gagged. “Ew, Symposium.”

Logan frowned. “There is nothing wrong with the Symposium, Hela.”

Hela gave a disbelieving look. “You're such the life of the party, dude. No wonder you and Patton haven't fucked yet.”

Logan turned several shades of red and started to make sounds akin to Windows error noises while the sons of Ares were laughing. Several campers who were passing by looked on in amusement and confusion.

“Hela, I am not in a romantic relationship with Patton,” Logan grumbled minutes later after the other boys were done laughing.

His sister gave him a look of disappointment. “Logan, I’m gonna be completely honest with you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You two are obviously into one another, so you need to man up and ask the cutie patt-ootie out.”

Logan took a deep breath and sighed. “Perhaps.”

“Gayhaps,” both of the older siblings corrected, high fiving the other. Logan looked at them clearly unamused while Roman had a wide grin across his face.

“Anyways--"

“Anygays--"

“--shouldn’t you two be doing more important things? Like strategizing for Capture the Flag tomorrow?”

Hela rolled her eyes while Jensen took to draping himself over Roman’s shoulders again. “Strategies are for nerds. The plan should be simple: attack the enemy, grab the flag, and make sure you get back to base.”

The children of Athena looked back at him unimpressed. He had to be joking, right? Logan looked at Roman, hoping for an explanation, but the younger son of Ares was too busy laughing into his hand, trying and failing to hide it from his sibling.

“What are you giggling about, dork?” Jensen poked his brother in his cheek. “I’m just reiterating your plan from our last game.”

Roman glowered at his brother and lightly smacked his hand away. Jensen made a move to poke Roman again, but Hela reached across the table to grab his wrist. “I do not want to explain to Mr. D again about why you two got into scuffle and get the ‘Harlem Rocky Oyster, you should have just let Ramen chop him up’ again.”

Jensen poured and crossed his arms. “But it's fuuuunnn!”

Hela rolled her eyes. “So what do you guys think of the new kid. Venus Sanchez?”

“Virgil Sanchez,” Logan corrected. “It seems that Patton and Dani have already adopted him.”

“Awww,” Hela cooed. “I didn't know you and Pat were adopting!” Logan glared at her and she shrugged. “He seems cool in my opinion. But then again, I didn’t talk to him.” She grinned at Roman and leaned on her hand.

Roman scrunched up his nose in disgust. “I don't like him.”

Jensen gasped. “Is it because he's cute?!”

Roman glared at his brother. “What? No, it's just--"

Jensen stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Yo Camp Half-blood! My baby brother Ro has a huge gay crush on--"

Roman tackled Jensen to the ground and the two began a smack battle. Hela groaned loudly and slammed her head into the table. Logan, unsure of what to do, awkwardly patted his sister’s shoulder.

“We should head to dinner.”

“I’ll grab the dorks.”

 

* * *

 

 

    Virgil sat underneath a tree, watching the several aquatic animals swim in the calm lake. He had already lost track of time and was probably late for one of the activities, but he didn’t care. He looked down at his necklace, holding the amethyst in his left hand. Something about it seemed familiar… but he couldn’t quite figure out where he’s seen it before…

    “Hiya, Kiddo!” Virgil’s arm jerk instinctively at the new voice, hitting the tree trunk with his elbow.

    “Son of a-” 

    “Watch your language, V,” Patton scooted in next to him. He seemed a little tired, probably from the activities Virgil had missed. “You missed Archery and woodchopping. Were you here the entire time?”

    Virgil sighed, “Yeah, I just didn’t feel like going…” 

    “That’s fine, kiddo. Next time, let me know, ok?” Patton’s eyes drifted towards Virgil’s neck. “Oooo~ I like your necklace! Who gave it to you?”

“Oh, um… Apparently my dad gave it to me...It’s magic though, wanna see?” Patton’s eyes practically lit up in excitement.

“Yeah I do!” Virgil ripped the gem off his necklace and Patton watched in awe as the stone turned into a battle axe.

“Woah! That’s so cool! Can I hold it?” 

Virgil looked at him reluctantly. He trusted Patton but what if he hurt himself? Then again, Virgil technically slept with the axe under his pillow so it should be fine.“Sure, I guess. Just try not to hurt yourself, ok?” 

“I promise!” Virgil handed over his axe, making sure it wasn’t facing either of them. Patton lifted it up carefully. He seemed mesmerized by the jewels on it. “Oooo~ It’s so pretty!”

“I’ve only summoned it once so I still don’t really know how to use it…”

“You fought the Chimera with it, right?” Patton asked. “Loggy Bear says that she’s really dangerous, most people have died trying to fight her.” 

“How did you kn- Wait. Did you say she?” Virgil was pretty sure he saw a mane on that thing. Patton nodded slowly.

“Yeah, it’s a she. Why she has a mane? I have no idea, but I do know she’s dangerous. You should be proud you defeated her, any other demigod probably would have died. You’re pretty lucky, Virgil!” Patton smiled up at him. Virgil looked down at the axe in Patton’s hands. He didn’t really think about how lucky he was to be alive. It was… odd. He felt so powerful at the time but, the moment he defeated the Chimera, once the danger was gone, he didn’t feel powerful anymore. It was probably the heat of the moment but it was interesting to him.

“Yeah… I guess I am lucky.” Suddenly, the axe in Patton’s hand shrunk down to it’s usual amethyst form.

Patton frowned as he handed the amethyst to Virgil, “I guess it’s enchanted to disappear when in the hands of someone else. Most weapons are like that, especially when it’s a gift from the gods.” 

“Oh, yeah…” Virgil dug his hands in his jacket pockets, “Honestly, this whole ‘child of a god’ thing is so… weird.”

“I know it’s sudden, but it’s life I guess.” Patton shrugged.

“Yeah, but… I grew up believing there was only one god only to find out, not only is there more than one god, but I’m the son of one of the many gods? How am I supposed to process that? I still don’t believe this is happening, like this is all some fucked up dream that I can’t wake up from.”

“And that’s ok! You don’t have to believe it all right away, that’s perfectly normal! I know it’s weird and confusing, but this is where you belong! With your family!” Patton assured, his baby blue eyes were practically shining in the sunlight. Nice, Virgil, that was really fucking gay of you to think. Virgil sighed and sat back up. 

“Thanks, Pat. It’s just weird for me, I guess…” 

“That’s fine! Roman, Dani, Loggy Bear, and I will help you fit right in!” Virgil raised an eyebrow at Patton.

“That’s the second time you’ve said ‘Loggy Bear’ in the last five minutes. You got a crush on Logan or something?” V smirked when Patton turned a deep shade of red.

“W-what?! No! I just- I just really respect him!” 

“And love him?”

“Yea- I MEAN NO!” Virgil laughed when the son of Aphrodite no longer tried to defend himself and just buried his face in his hands.

“Yeah, ok. Let’s go, we’re probably missing Defence against the Dark Arts right now.”

“What’s that? Also, we have sword practice next.”

“Uh, nevermind. Let’s go.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Be careful!” Virgil barely moved in time to dodge the sword that would’ve sliced his stomach open. The dodge would’ve been alright if he hadn’t tripped on a rock while jumping backwards and fell down, dropping his own sword in the process. Virgil didn’t even try to get up when Dani and Patton rushed over to him.

“Oh my gods, are you ok? You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Dani bent down and searched for any sword wounds. Virgil groaned and shoved Dani’s hands away.

“I’m fine.” He said, like a liar. 

“Aww… kiddo, you need to be more careful.” Patton reached for Virgil’s sword, only to find that it wasn’t there.

“I’m guessing this is the new kid?” The three of them looked up to see a kid, probably seventeen or eighteen years of age, holding Virgil’s sword. The kid’s left eye was golden while his right was a light brown. Virgil realized it was the same kid he was fighting with a moment ago.

“Yep! Dee, this is Virgil! Virgil, this is Dee, son of Hecate!” Patton introduced the two.

“Pleasure to meet you, V. Oh, and you have a hell of a lot to learn, don’t you? I mean- I was going easy on you. This your first time using a sword?” Dee bent down and held out a hand for Virgil, who reluctantly took it and was dragged up to his feet. 

“Yeah, it is.” V huffed. “I’ve only ever used an axe before and that was only yesterday.”

“Hmm… Was it used in a fight?” Dee asked.

“He defeated the Chimera with it!” Pat answered before Virgil could say anything.

“Damn! The Chimera? You must be pretty good with the axe if you can kill that fucking beast.” Virgil blushed. He wasn’t used to being complimented. “Dani, can you remind me to take V to the armory later so we can find him an axe?” 

“Actually… I already have an axe.” V summoned his axe and Dee immediately grabbed it out of his hand and began observing it.

“Interesting… I’ve never seen a metal like this before. Where’d you get this from?”

“My dad gave it to me.”

“...Hey, there’s something written on here.” Dee turned the hilt and pointed at a small engraving in the amethyst. “It says… ‘Opsiános’.”

“Obsidian in Greek, right?” Virgil asked, grabbing his axe back and putting it back on his necklace.

“That’s correct.” Dee nodded, still looking at Virgil’s necklace.

“Oh! Dee! Why don’t we introduce Virgil to Remy and Thomas?” Patton asked.

“Sure thing, Pat. REM! THOMAS! COME HERE!” Dee shouted at the top of his lungs. Moments later, two people walked over to them. One seemed about the same age as Dee, the other was probably fifteen years old. The eldest of the two was wearing extremely tinted sunglasses and it was almost impossible to see his eyes.

“Wassup, hun?” The older one went over to Dee and held his arm. Patton and Dani both waved at him.

“Hi, Remy!” they both chimed together.

“Hello, sweeties.”

“Rem, I’d like you to meet Virgil, the new kid. Virgil, meet Remy, son of Hypnos.” Dee gestured at the kid holding his arm. Patton grabbed the other kid’s arm and literally pulled him into the conversation. 

“This is Thomas! He’s the son of Iris!” 

“Oh, uh… hi.” Virgil was visibly trying to escape the conversation. Patton was the only one to notice this and frowned.

“What’s wrong, V?” 

“It’s just… weird for me to meet so many people at once, I guess. Kinda just want to stay in the cabin.” 

“But we need to introduce you to everyone-” Dee began before being interrupted.

“Hold on, Dee. Virgil is new and is probably being overwhelmed by all this. Let’s just give him some time to get used to all this, then we can have him meeting everyone, ok?” Thomas put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “You can head to your cabin, if you want. Mr. D isn’t going to say much and probably wouldn’t even realize if you’re gone. We can go get you for lunch.” 

“Do you need our help to find your way to the cabin?” Dani asked.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll see you.” Virgil left without any hesitation, making his way to the cabin and slamming the door. He was about to plop down onto his bed until he noticed he wasn’t alone.

“Hello there, Panic at the Everywhere. You know, it’s a bit too early to be back in the cabin.” Roman said, not even looking back at Virgil as he combed his already perfect hair.

“Then why are you here?” Virgil asked. 

“That’s not important.” Roman answered as he put down the comb and turned to look at him. “But, since you’re here…” His hazel eyes stared into Virgil’s nearly black ones. “I believe we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Roman Flores, and I hope we can be friends.” The son of Ares held out his hand, expecting Virgil to take it. Instead, Virgil only stared at in and walked past him.

“That’s nice, Princey.” Virgil felt Roman grab his jacket and dragged him back in front of him.

“What is your problem?” Roman growled.

“What’s my problem? I’m not the one with a fucking ego problem!” 

“Oh? I have an ego problem? You were the one who just refused to shake my hand after I tired to make up for being rude to you!” 

“I’m pretty sure you have a war to be fighting, oh mighty Ares son. So get the hell out of my face and leave me alone!” Now, Virgil didn’t know much of the greek gods, though he did know Ares was the god of war so he probably should have expected his children were unusually strong with short tempers. Roman grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him into the closest wall.

“You know what? I at least tried to be friends with someone like you. You may be the son of a god, but you are nothing compared to everyone else! Lovely little Patton and Dani may care for you now, but don’t believe for a second that you belong here. Next time, I’ll put you in your place.” Roman dropped Virgil on the ground and left him alone in the dark cabin. 

Virgil sat there for half an hour, not moving a muscle as he thought about what Roman had said. Even here, he wouldn’t belong. He was still an outsider. He was still alone.

 

* * *

 

 

“C’mon, V! Let’s hurry up!” The son of Aphrodite pushed past a group of Ares kids who looked as though they would’ve murdered him if he hadn’t been running. 

“Why are you so excited? It’s just a campfire-” Virgil made eye contact with the oldest Ares kid, who only winked at him as he turned to one of his siblings.

“Becaaaaaaauusse, you’ll get claimed there! Most gods wait till the campfire, it’s amazing. Oh! The fire also changes color and size depending on the emotions of everyone there, too! You’re gonna love it!” Virgil had to start running to keep up with Patton. 

Ahead of them, Virgil could already see people surrounding a bright magenta fire, burning about five feet tall. Though, the moment they came close to the fire, the flames turned slightly greyer. Patton dragged him next to where Dani, Thomas, and Logan (?) were sitting.

“Hiya! Where’s RoRo?” Patton asked, sitting down next to his twin.

“He’s decided to sit with his siblings tonight.” Logan pointed at the group of Ares kids.

“Awww… I wanted him to be here for this!” Thomas gave Patton a confused look.

“Be here for what, Pat?” 

“When Virgil gets claimed! All Mr. D has to do is ask the gods to claim him and it’ll happen! Right here! Right now!” 

“Now now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Perhaps we shouldn’t get Virgil’s hopes up. There’s no guarantee that he’ll get claimed. Some demigods wait up to two days to get chosen sometimes. Mostly because they lose track of their children sometimes.” Logan mumbled the last part, mainly to himself.

“But V has the axe, uh, Obsidian? Was that what its called?” Virgil nodded, causing Patton to continue. “Obsidian was a gift from his father, so he obviously knows about Virgil!” Patton pulled V into a hug. “Think about it! You’ll finally find your siblings! You’ll be surrounded by others just like yourself!” 

“Yeah… I guess so..”

“HEY! VAGINAL PUMPKIN! ARE YA DONE YET?” Virgil looked up at Mr. D’s voice. Mr. D waited a few seconds before continuing. “Thank you. Anyway, as we all know, Vagi-”

“Virgil!”

“WHATEVER! Virgil is new here and so we must do the damn ceremony thing where we ask the gods who the hell he belongs to. I’m just making it very clear right now, that,” Mr. D pointed a finger at Virgil, “is not my spawn. My spawn are usually disappointing, but not that much.” Oliver, from the Dionysus cabin, nodded along with what his father was saying. Virgil is sure he heard Jackie from Hebe cabin call Oliver an idiot.

“Oliver is the only one in Mr. D’s cabin, I feel bad for him since he eats alone.” Patton whispered.

“Well, he’s got his friends. They always hang out with him whenever they can.” Dani added.

“Anyway, let’s see who’s gonna claim the newbie.” Mr. D gestured at Virgil. “Get your lazy ass up.” Virgil stood, trying to ignore everyone in camp watching his every movement. Trying to ignore Dani and Patton’s excited squeals. Trying to ignore Roman’s mumbling about how he must be the son of Hades. Trying to ignore the anxiety he felt. Trying to ignore Picani.

Mr. D looked up at the sky, “To all the gods watching from above, someone, anyone, claim Vaginal-”

“Virgil.”

“-Pumpkin as your own. Or don’t. I don’t care.” The magenta fire died down to a faded pink about two feet tall as everyone waited for a sign, a symbol, anything that shows Virgil’s true heritage. They waited for nearly three minutes, but nothing happened. After five minutes, everyone began mumbling to each other, Roman being the loudest voice that could be heard. Virgil sat down, not making eye contact with anyone.

“V? Are you ok?” Virgil felt someone put their hand on his shoulder. He immediately shoved the hand way.

“I’m fine.” Virgil snapped.” the person went silent, deciding to leave Virgil alone for now. Glancing back at the fire, Virgil saw it resembled a regular fire, burning about a foot tall. It remained that way the rest of the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Correct my spelling cause Zeus knows I'm shit at it.  
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Capture the Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Capture the flag, the murderous family friendly game for almost everyone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, verbal arguing, mean Roman, and mentions of neglectful parents (kinda?)  
> Let me know if I missed any!  
> Also, two chapters in under a month? I must have been blackmailed. Then again, it is a lot shorter than expected. Ch3 and 4 we're supposed to be one single chapter so rip.

“Capture the flag starts in ten minutes and I severely hope we may remain victorious.” Logan and his sibling were standing in front of the entire blue team, consisting of children of Aphrodite, Hypnos, Demeter, Apollo, Dionysus, Hebe, and Iris. Virgil stood in the back of the crowd with Dani, Thomas, Remy, and Patton. Hela, from the Athena cabin, was next to Logan, seemingly much more relaxed compared to her younger brother. Virgil’s armor was heavy, mostly because he couldn’t find any that fit him very well so he had to armor that was way too big for him. Mr. D had let a little bit of snow in camp, leaving the tops of tree being lightly covered in snow. V had nearly forgotten it was almost Christmas.

“To run through the plan, Aphrodite children will be at the barrier near the creek, those with charmspeak especially, will be using their abilities to distract the other team as much as possible. Oliver,” Logan pointed at the only son of Dionysus, “the moment  _ anyone _ crosses the border, summon vines to hold them down, try to disarm them if you can, and, when I give the signal, cause as many people as you can to go mad.” Oliver nodded. “Demeter cabin, help him out by summoning plants of your own. Children of Apollo will be shooting the enemy within the trees. Iris cabin, if anyone can get past them, use your photokinesis to blind them with a bright light. Remus,” Remy raised an eyebrow at his full name, “you will be running around putting people to sleep. Finally, everyone else will be running along the edge of the forest and attempt to get the enemy’s flag. Be wary of any traps, as they have Hecate on their side and will be most likely manipulating the mist. Any questions?” Virgil raised his hand almost immediately.

“Uh, do I count as ‘everyone else’?” Virgil felt sick to his stomach when everyone turned to look at him. 

“Of course you do. We are aware of your axe and, due to it being a melee weapon, you will be offense along with Athena and Hebe’s cabin. We remain unaware of any of your special abilities so you will be placed with Nataly-”

“Hey, hun!” Remy interrupted Logan, who gave him a confused look. “They go by Lune now, remember?” 

“Right, terribly sorry, Lune. You will be placed Lune from Athena’s cabin and Jacqueline from Hebe’s. They will both be there to defend you in case of any emergency. Is that alright with the two of you?” Logan turned to the two kids in front. Lune merely gave him a thumbs up and he nodded. “Now, everyone, get into position. Virgil, stick close to them.” At once, everyone ran in different directions. 

“Alright, bud, we gotta head to the border, we’ll see you after the game, ok? Lune and Jackie will keep you safe.” Patton assured Virgil.

“Yeah, just keep calm and everything will be fine.” Thomas added.

“Try not to be impaled.” 

“Remy! Don’t say that!” Dani nudged him. 

“It’s so dark, how are we supposed to play like this?” Virgil noticed he couldn’t see ten feet in front of him. 

“Yeah… they do that…” Chiron’s horn rang through the forest, signalling the game was about to start.

“We gotta go! Bye, Virgil! Stay safe!” Virgil watched as his friends ran into the dark forest before disappearing into the shadows. 

“Hey, V.” Turning, Virgil saw Lune and Jackie both standing behind him. Lune was holding a sword that seemed to be glowing a faint gold while Jackie held a spear. 

“Uh, hi?” 

“No offense, but try to stay out of my way, alright? Not trying to be rude but you’ve never been in a fight like this and I don’t want you to be stabbed or anything, alright?” Lune didn’t get a response from Virgil when the final horns were sounded and, the very next second, several warcries could be heard from the other side of the forest.

“Damn, they started already. Let’s go, Lune.” Jackie already began running, Lune following close by with Virgil. 

Virgil looked down at his necklace as they ran, unsure whether or not he should summon Obsidian. He decided not to and kept running.

 

* * *

 

Logan dodged to his left as a javelin missed him by a few inches. He kept running, narrowly dodging the several throwing knives sent at him. He had already made it past the creek and was officially in enemy territory. He knew Ares’ team wasn’t as strategic as he was so their side was completely empty. At least he thought it was.

“Hey! Brainiac!” Suddenly, two boys appeared, one behind him and the other in front of him. Both he recognized as sons of Nike, Daniel and Johnny. Just like every child of Nike, they were unbelievably fast and agile. Logan wasn’t able to get out of the way as both boys ran up and sliced him with their knives, Daniel cutting him on his cheek and Johnny getting his back. If there weren’t rules against maiming and killing, the brothers would have been able to end him right then and there. They were nearly impossible to keep track of, Daniel elbowing Logan in the stomach as his brother kicked him to his knees. The brothers disarmed him in an instant and the two began dragging him to ‘Capture the Flag Jail’. Daniel was nice enough to clean up the blood dripping from Logan’s back at least. They may have been on opposing teams, but no one in camp really hated each other.

The rules of Capture the flag were: No maiming, No killing, Everyone who is not injured is required to play, the Creek is the border line, The whole forest is fair game, Prisoners are not to be gagged, bound, or beaten, Flags must be visible, Guards cannot be within ten feet of the flag unless they are attacking an enemy, and prisoners can only be saved by their teammates. Fortunately, Athena always had a plan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a plan Logan liked very much.

Johnny was suddenly struck with a sword from behind with enough force to crack parts of his armor. Daniel turned in time to see a spear miss his face by an inch. 

“Hey, Johnny.” Jackie said as she tried to land a hit on him. 

“Hi, Jackie.” Johnny responded as he summoned his shield to protect himself. Lune said nothing, swinging their sword at the other brother. Logan looked around for Virgil, only to find he wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“Lune! Jacqueline! Where’s Virgil?” Logan asked as he picked up his fallen spear.

“Uh…”

“We kinda lost him?” Lune finished for Jackie. 

“Lune! You had one job!” Logan shouted at his younger sibling.

“Bro, I’m the least responsible person in Athena’s cabin! What did you expect?”

“I sent him to go get the flag! We weren’t that far from it so I thought we could save you as he went to win the game.” Jackie said as she knocked the knife out of Johnny’s hand.

“Johnny! Daniel! Stop fighting, please!” A soft voice cried and the brothers immediately obeyed, dropping their weapons. They had a dazed look on their faces and their eyes seemed to glow a faint pink. Everyone turned to see Patton running up to them. “Are you ok, Lolo?” Patton caressed Logan’s injured cheek, making sure not to touch the wound directly. 

“I’m fine, Patton.” Logan glared at his sibling and their friend as they both winked at him. 

Patton looked at the others, “Where’s Virgil?” Logan seemed to snap back to reality and turned to look at his sibling.

“You get back to our flag. Patton and I will go find Virgil.” Lune and Jackie nodded as they ran off. “Let’s go, Patton. Hopefully he isn’t dead yet.”

 

* * *

 

Virgil was surprised he wasn’t dead yet. He could hear people fighting all around him. There was only one direction there wasn’t any shouting. “‘ _ Go get the flag’ they said. ‘It’ll be easy’ they said.”  _ Virgil mumbled to himself as he ran deeper into the darkness. He was kinda hoping he had been sent to the boy’s bathroom while the game went on. He’d stay out of trouble and everything would be okay-

“Hello there, Charlie Frown.” Virgil was sure he jumped three feet in the air when a voice spoke, a bit too close for comfort. “Aww, what’s wrong, J-Delightful? Scared?” Roman’s face could barely be seen in the shadows of the looming trees, vaguely illuminated by his sword and shield, both glowing a faded blood red. “I thought they’d never leave you by yourself.” 

“You’ve been following me?” Virgil immediately remembered his whole ‘controlling the earth’ thing and clenched his fists, silently hoping something would happen. 

“I told you I was going to put you in your place, didn’t I?” Roman stepped closer to Virgil, who backed up all the way into a tree. “Not so strong now, huh? I can’t believe you were the one to kill the Chimera.”

“How’d you know about that? Who told you?” At this point, it was pretty obvious Virgil was trying to do something, but it wasn’t at all working. Roman smirked at his attempts at using his powers.

“Word gets around.” Without warning, Roman sprinted forward towards the cornered Virgil. Instinctually, Virgil summoned Obsidian and parried Roman’s attack. It wasn’t a very good parry, but it was a parry nonetheless. The son of Ares stared at Virgil’s axe, clearly Obsidian was not something that everyone knew about yet. His shock vanished pretty quickly as he swung his sword at Virgil.

It was at that moment when Virgil realized he had no fucking idea how to actually fight with an axe. He dodged to the left, Roman’s sword hitting the tree instead. Virgil caught a glimpse of Roman’s usual hazel eyes glowing a dark red.

In the distance, the sound of what was presumably a monster growling echoed through the woods. Unfortunately for Virgil, Roman had no sympathy whatsoever and front kicked Virgil. Apparently Roman kicked him a bit harder than he intended and Virgil went flying into the darkness. Roman didn’t like Virgil much, don’t get him wrong, but he genuinely didn’t want to hurt him that badly. The son of Ares blinked, his hazel eyes returning to their normal color again as he processed what he just did.

“Oh shit… Uh, Virgil? Are you alright? I’m sorry, I didn’t-” Roman heard gentle footsteps coming from the shadows, right where he kicked Virgil. “Oh thank gods, Virgil, you’re ok. I’m terribly sorry, I don’t know what went over me…” Instead of Virgil, a little black cat walked out from behind a bush, it’s fiery eyes glaring up at him as he held Virgil’s axe, now back in it’s amethyst form, in his mouth. The longer Roman stared at him the closer it got, seemingly getting bigger… wait, it WAS getting bigger. Roman didn’t have anytime to react as the cat, about as big as a deer at this point, dropped the amethyst on the ground and leapt at him, baring it’s claws.

Virgil awoke to a massive headache and his chest in extreme pain, a bruise most likely forming there. It took him a few seconds to be able to see properly again. He wiped off the pieces of broken tree branches off of his armor as he got back up. The forest was oddly quiet… Abruptly, Roman was sent flying past him, slamming into a tree. He was clearly more durable than Virgil because he instantly got back to his feet. 

“Virgil!” Roman grabbed him and dragged him being the tree. “Stay behind me!” 

“Roman! What’s-” 

“A beast entered the forest! I’ll take care of it, I don’t want you getting hurt!” A terrifying roar rang through the forest, I giant hellcat the size of a bull stalked from behind a tree, snarling at Roman. Something about his orange eyes seemed familiar to Virgil… Roman raised his sword as the hellcat pounced at him.

“Wait! Roman stop!” Virgil made it just in time to tackle Roman out of the way, knocking the sword out of his hands. 

“Virgil! What are you doing?” Roman quickly shoved Virgil off of him, getting back to his feet. “That thing is a hellcat! It needs to be killed!” The cat crept close, yet seemingly very hesitant to attack this time. Virgil really didn’t have time for this. He swiftly placed himself between Roman and the hellcat, keeping his eyes on the other halfblood.

“Roman, stop! Just- Just listen to me, ok? Gáta isn’t bad, he’s just upset.” At the mention of his name, the hellcat began to ease up. Virgil turned to Gáta, pointing a scolding finger at him. “You do NOT hurt Roman or any other demigod in this camp, you understand me?” If cats could roll their eyes, Virgil was pretty sure that was just what happened. Gáta eventually sat down, most likely annoyed, and began to groom himself as though nothing had just happened.

“That thing is your cat?” Virgil looked over at Roman, watching as the son of Ares looked at him with disgust, his eyes slowly turning red again. “You summoned that thing here!”

“What? No I didn’t!” 

“You can’t lie to me! Are you telling me that after I attacked you, a random monster just suddenly appeared right from where you landed after our fight?”

“Look! I don’t know what happened, alright? He can shadow travel so maybe he used that to just show up after you kicked me.” 

“Now, why exactly would a hellcat listen to you? Why in the world would he even care about you?”

“I. Don’t. Know. He just does!”

“Monsters don’t just listen to anyone, Virgil! What are you hiding? Are you a spy? A monster in disguise?” Roman raised his sword and pointed it at Virgil accusingly. At this point, both Gáta and Virgil were annoyed.

“Ay Dioses! How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t know why he listens to me! Are you really that du-”

“Virgil! Roman!” Patton’s voice cut through Virgil’s insult. The son of Aphrodite run up to the two, clearly upset at them both. “Now, why in the world are you two arguing?”

Roman quickly pointed at Virgil, “He summoned a monster to kill me!” Roman proceed to point at Gáta. Patton looked up at the hellcat for a moment, studying him.

“....Wait… is that Gáta?” Patton asked as he pointed a finger at the hellcat.

“You know this monster too?” Roman asked.

“Well, he’s Virgil’s pet cat. He was with Virgil when he got to camp.” Patton shrugged as he rubbed his nose, mumbling something about allergies under his breath.

“So you did bring him into camp!” Roman turned back to Virgil.

“He’s my fucking pet! I’m not just going to leave him!”

“He’s a monster! He’s not a cute little animal you get to keep!” It wasn’t until Virgil heard whispers did he realize other people were watching them. But that didn’t bother him. He didn’t care about that anymore. He saw Logan run up and whisper something in Patton’s ear and they both ran off.

“I took care of him since I was a little kid in Mexico! How was I supposed to know? Plus, he doesn’t hurt anybody!”

“He literally attacked me!”

“Because you attacked me!”

“This is Capture the Flag! That’s the whole point of the game!”

“Well, he doesn’t know that!” 

“How do I know you’re not just lying?”

“I’m a halfblood, same as you! Why would I put you guys in danger on purpose?”

“Because you’re jealous!” Virgil almost froze at that. This stuck up asshole seriously thought he was jealous of him? The forest around Virgil seemed to have gotten hotter, the snow around the trees melting at once. It was… unusual…

“You’re saying that I’M jealous? Why would I ever be jealous of you? I’d never want to be a stuck up prick like you!” 

“At least my father cares enough about me to show his fucking face to me! Sorry your father doesn’t love you enough!” Virgil didn’t even know how to respond to that. He was sure he would burst into flames at any moment. Probably because he literally did.

Virgil hadn’t noticed he had been engulfed by flames until he heard several screams and cries of terror from other halfbloods. The fire burned a dark purple around him, the flames burning so bright, it illuminated the entire forest, Virgil would’ve been surprised if nobody in the forest could see it. Plant life around him began to ignite in flames as well, yet, oddly enough, it didn’t hurt him at all.

“Virgil!” Said demigod turned to see Chiron, the centaur Activities Instructor in camp, galloping towards him, Patton and Logan following close behind him. However, he froze, staring slightly above Virgil’s head. It didn’t take very long for everyone else to look above him as well. 

“What are you guys looking at?” Virgil asked, the fire dying down slightly. Patton only responded by pointing above him. Even Gáta seemed to be looking above him, though he seemed much more interested in the burning grass than his buring owner. Glancing up, Virgil saw a puff of smoke in an unusual shape…

“A skull…” Roman stated, not looking away from the cloud of smoke above his rival. After a few moments, the smoke cloud faded away, along with the fire. Everyone remained staring at where the smoke used to be, unsure of what to do next. Chiron was the first to move.

“Virgil…” The centaur slowly moved closer to Virgil before stopping a few feet ahead of him, standing up tall. Chiron looked round, making sure everyone had been paying attention. “You have finally been claimed by your father.” The instant Chiron knelt, everyone else followed, Roman being the last one to follow through. “Virgil Sanchez Picani, son of Hades, God of Death and wealth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited return of Gáta, fucking finally.


	5. Divination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman has a dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Arguing, Crying, nightmares  
> Tell me if I missed any

    The cabin door to the Aphrodite cabin creaked as it was pulled open, the faint moonlight illuminating the inside slightly. A shadowy figure stepped into the building quietly, making no sound at all. Inside, everyone was asleep, only the faintest sounds of snoring could be heard through all of the cabin. The shadow figure continued to creep further in, the temperature dropping as it passed. It eventually stopped by three beds. The first bed held the sleeping son of Ares, the other two holding the twins of the Goddess of love. The shadow reached out it’s claws, touching one of the demigods. All three demigods continued sleeping, unaware of what was currently happening.

    Quiet whispers echoed throughout the cabin, seemingly coming from the shadow looming above the beds. It appeared as though the shadow was reading each demigod’s mind. Each voice was distinct and clear. The whispers each spoke of different things, their hopes, their dreams, and their loved ones.

    _“I wish to grow strong enough to protect the ones I love.”_

_“I strive to make everyone happy.”_

_“I am determined to prove myself.”_ The shadow cocked it’s head slightly at the last one. The demigod who had shared the same voice with the final whisper tossed in their sleep.

    **_“Interesting.”_ ** The shadow circled the bed holding the sleeping demigod. **_“Very interesting.”_ ** It placed a sharp hand over the demigod’s heart. It appeared as though some of the shadow seeped into the heart of the sleeping highschooler.

    Before leaving the cabin, the shadow stared at the other two, as though thinking about what to do with them. From beneath it, two black snakes slithered out, each having glowing red eyes. One wrapped itself around one of the demigods’ necks, biting it before fading into shadows. The other hissed into the ear of the other before slithering across their face and fading away as well. All three demigods had dark markings on their skin where the shadows had touched them. After a few moments, the markings disappeared, as though nothing had happened.

    The Shadow quietly left the cabin, looking around before it began to focus on the cabin of Athena.

 

* * *

  


    Roman woke when two knocks on the door echoed throughout the cabin. He hadn’t even realized he was sleeping. Patton and Dani stood at the doorway, the distant campfire shining upon their faces.

“Hi, Ro. Are you feeling better?” Dani asked as she flicked the cabin lights on. Both Aphrodite twins sat on the bad across from Roman, waiting for a response from the Roman. The son of Ares wanted to tell them that he was, that everything was just fine, that he was just peachy. But he wasn’t.

“No. I’m not.” Roman sat up in his bed. “Everything has gone to complete crap.” Patton pursed his lips slightly, at least appreciative that Roman was being honest.

“Well, at least you won the game, right? First time Area won a Capture the flag in years!” Dani tried to be upbeat.

“That's hardly important right now.” Roman grumbled.

“... There's still time to join us at the campfire, wanna come with us?” Dani suggested.

“I don't want to even look at _him_ right now. This whole day's been a disaster.”

“Everything’s going to be alright, bud-”

“NO IT ISN’T!” Roman shouted.

Both twins glanced at each other. “Go get Emile.” Patton whispered and Dani stood up and quietly left. Patton took a deep breath before turning back to Roman.

“Ro, I know you’re upset-”

“No kidding.”

“-but you need to understand that Virgil isn’t a threat. He not going to hurt anyone, you know that-”

“No, Patton! I don’t know that!” Roman stood, his dream from mere moments ago still haunting him.

“Roman, please…” At this point, Roman had gotten up and began pacing.

“Haven’t you noticed? There hasn’t been a monster at the border for years! And suddenly a monster just so happens to appear when he gets here? I’m not buying it!”

“I’m sure there’s a reason why-”

“AND HE ‘OWNS’ ONE? HOW DO YOU KEEP A MONSTER AS A PET?”

“Well, he is the son of Hades, hellhounds and hellcats are creatures of the Underworld.”

“Patton! How do you not realize what’s happening? There isn’t a monster you couldn’t love! You can’t just trust him!”

“Why not?” Patton felt his face get hot. How could he just say that? The son of Aphrodite tried his best to mask the anger in his voice.

“He’s going to hurt you! I know he is!”

“No! You don’t know that! You just want to be mad!”

“Patton! You barely know him! You can’t just trust someone you just met!”

“And you can’t just accuse someone you just met of something you have no solid evidence for!” Patton stopped trying to hide his feelings at this point, both demigods clearly upset. He was surprised no one could hear them from outside. Or maybe nobody cared.

“You still don’t know what he might do!”

“Why don't you just stop worrying about me!?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you, Patton!” Patton froze when he realized Roman had begun to cry. The son of Ares had only ever cried three times out of the four years they had known each other.

“Ro? Ro, what’s wrong?” Patton slowly walked up to his friend, trying not to upset him anymore.

“Patt… I…” Roman took a shaky breath before continuing. “I’ve… been having visions…”

“About? You don’t have to tell me.”

Roman shook his head in response, “No… I need to tell you. These dreams… no, these visions, they’ve been going on for about six months now. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but they started getting worse and worse. It started with a giant black snake, then there were more of them, about seven or eight before it suddenly changed to something much different. Soon, I saw some… shadow. The shadow would talk to the snakes, and they would listen. Right before you came in, I had the most vivid one yet. The shadow was in our cabin! And-” Roman slowly began to become hysterical.

“Shhhhh, it's ok, RoRo! Everything's fine! I'm fine! You're going to be ok!” Patton reached out to hold Roman's hand, only to be pulled into a hug. Roman held him tightly, as though he would lose him if he let go. The hug lasted several minutes, neither of the two making any noise aside from Roman's crying. After several long minutes, Roman's sobs had gone silent, leaving the two in complete silence.

“I'm sorry Patton.”

“There's nothing to be sorry about, Ro.” Patton rubbed his back soothingly.

“I'm supposed to be the one to protect you, and here I am. Crying on your shoulder.”

“Roman, there's nothing wrong with showing your emotions. No one's going to shame you for that.”

“Father will… “ Roman mumbled, mainly to himself, though loud enough for Patton to hear.

“Who cares what your father thinks? You're you, no one should tell you to be something you're not, not even your father.” The two stood in silence again, enjoying the comfort the hug brought them.

“Patton?”

“Yes, Roman?”

“Prometeme.”

“What do you want me to promise you?”

“Promise me you won't leave me.”

“... I promise.”

“Thank you..”

“I promise with all my heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short as fuck but eh, all you're getting first the rest of the year. Things came up so I decided on just posting this. And finally, some good fucking plot progression  
> Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year's!


	6. Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil remembers home and Roman tries to get some fucking sleep for once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Quick Phobia attack, mention of human and animal bones, fainting, bullying, Virgil cries but not that much tbh
> 
> let me know if I missed anything

    The shadow crept into the Athena cabin soundlessly, the door closing by itself behind it. About six bunk beds were in the cabin, each one shoved up against the walls. All the beds were full, minus one. A boy sat at one of the desks in the corner, reading an unusually thick book. He didn’t even notice the shadow, or maybe he couldn’t see it? Pushing his glasses up his nose, Logan struggled to stay awake as he chugged his coffee. He winced at the bitterness of his drink but went right back to his book.

    The figure swept past the rest of the campers, stopping right behind Logan. He shivered as the mere presence of the shadow made the room grow cold. As though he could feel the pair of bright gold eyes watching him, Logan turned, only to find nothing behind him. Logan stared directly at the shadow, yet remained unable to see it. The son of Athena narrowed his eyes slightly as he went to retrieve a blanket from one of the bunk beds. The Shadow went over to the desk, scanning over each book and paper, coming across a letter of some kind. Ignoring the of content on the note, the shadow noticed it had been signed, “Galleta”.  As the figure looked over the papers, there were several more notes from this “Galleta” on the desk.

    Logan returned to his desk, unaware of the shadow standing directly next to him. The shadow looked down at the boy before placing it’s hands on both sides of Logan’s head, the shadows seeming to spread, entering his eyes, turning them momentarily golden before fading back to their usual silver color. Logan remained unaware and went back to his studying. The shadow stared at the son of Athena for a few moments before completely fading away.

  


“You need to relax, Virgil.”

    “I am relaxed!”

    “Clearly you aren’t. Focus.” Logan looked up at the son of Hades, crossing his arms. They had been here for nearly fifteen minutes and have made no progress whatsoever.

    “It’s harder than you think!” Virgil growled.

    “I do not think it is easily possible, I know it is easily possible. You must put all your focus and energy into it.” Logan said as he adjusted his glasses.

    “I can’t do this!”

    “Not with that attitude. Perhaps if you were to focus on something that keeps you calm and content before trying again.” Virgil sighed. He had no idea why they were doing this. When Logan told him to follow him into the woods, he thought he was about to be murdered for losing the game of Athena. Apparently he just wanted to go look at the stars away from the rest of the campers, which was fair.

    “Ughhhhhh, do we have to do this?” Virgil groaned loudly.

    “Well, this can help you learn how to use your abilities more effectively, however I will not force you to do so.” Logan politely replied. Virgil sighed and pushed his hair out of his eyes, which was seemingly unaffected as most of his hair fell back. Logan said to thing of things that calm him, which he found kinda dumb but it was worth a shot.

    Virgil let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes and tried to focus as aimed his palms at the ground around him. _Ok, Virgil, what calms you down? Uuh… Gáta does when he’s not being moody… and mamá…_ Virgil focused on his memories of his mamá, how she would always sing him the same lullaby to help him fall asleep whenever he had nightmares, how she’d always buy him those Del le Rosas and Kinder Eggs (those real Kinder Eggs, not those fake ones America has), and how she’d walk him to that little arcade near the house every weekend whenever the Bakery was closed. He loved getting ice cream with Mamá, he always remembered their order. Horchata ice cream with a chocolate dipped cone for mamá and a mango paleta for himself. Sometimes he’d order a boli. Then those memories faded to ones with Picani. When they went camping that one time and Picani had brought a DVD player so they could watch old cartoons and Disney movies while they waited for the snowstorm to end. Then that time they went apple picking and a mushy apple fell on Picani’s shoulder…

    “Virgil?” Logan’s voice broke his concentration, causing Virgil to literally blink back into reality.

    “Uh, what?”

    “Why are you crying?” Virgil looked at him oddly, tilting his head.

    “What do you mean?” Logan merely responded by pointing at his cheeks. When Virgil went to touch them, sure enough, they were damp with tears. He hadn’t even noticed he was crying.

    “Are you alright, Virgil?” Logan asked quietly. In all honesty, Virgil didn’t even know if he was alright.

    “I don’t know..? I guess? I was just thinking about things.” Virgil admitted.

    “What kind of things?”  

    “...things about my mom.” Virgil whispered so quietly that Logan had barely heard him. Logan frowned as Virgil hugged himself. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter, let’s just head back to camp.”

    “Are you sure you’re alright, Virgil?”

    “I’m fine!” Virgil snapped, “Let’s just get back, alright?” Virgil didn’t wait for a response from Logan before he walked off. The son of Athena sighed before following Virgil through the woods, not wanting him to get lost on his way back. The two remained in silence their whole way back, Virgil not wanting to talk and Logan not really knowing what to say. It wasn’t until they arrived at the Hades cabin when Logan said something.

    “Virgil-”

    “I said, I’m fine.” Virgil cut him off before he could say anything else.

    “I simply wanted to ask if you wanted some company since you will be alone in your cabin from now on. I understand if you do not me to stay.” Logan continued as though he hadn’t been cut off. Virgil stared at him, considering denying Logan’s offer.

    “....sure, I guess.” Virgil held open the obsidian door for Logan, trying to ignore the skull that hung above it. Logan followed him inside and looked around the cabin, never actually being inside before. They both looked uncomfortably at the coffin shaped beds with blood red covers. Virgil tensed when he realized that not only were there no windows at all, but there seemed to be some sort of shrine with real human bones in the corner. He was starting to become grateful that Logan had stayed with him.

    “Well this cabin is… interesting..?” Logan tried to put on a fake smile but kinda failed horribly.

    “This place fucking blows.” Virgil didn’t even hesitate to say what was on his mind. “Who the hell built this place?”

    “That would be Nico di Angelo.”

    “Who?”

    “One of Hades' children and your half brother. He no longer resides at camp, however.” Logan answered.

    “Oh..” Virgil never realized that he might have half siblings. Still didn’t make him feel better though. “This cabin is still shit though.” Virgil went over and pushed his hand into the mattress of one of the beds, finding it to be pretty stiff.

    “I suppose it is…”

“To be honest, I like edgy shit but this is waaaaaay too far, even for me.” Virgil decided to sit down on one of the beds, Logan hesitant to join him before Virgil gestured him to sit next to him.

“We don’t choose our cabins, I know Roman sure wishes he did.” Virgil would’ve been upset at the mention of Roman if it didn’t involve some interesting _chisme_. He’d never admit it, but Virgil does enjoy some gossip.

“What do you mean?”

“Roman hates his cabin. Have you not seen the Ares cabin?” Logan asked.

“Is it that red one that’s always blasting rock music?”

“Precisely that one. Do you truly believe Roman Flores of all people fits in at that cabin?” Virgil tried to imagine Roman listening to Rock music and it was near impossible visualize.

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“Why do you think he’s always in Aphrodite’s Cabin? He is unbelievably uncomfortable in his own cabin. You two do seem to have some things in common.” Logan pointed out, only to get a laugh in response.

“HAH! Me? Having something in common with _Roman Flores_? Don’t make me laugh, L.”

“I am very serious, Virgil. You two do seem to relate to each other at time.” Virgil only rolled his eyes and flopped down on the bed.

“You know, I feel like you’re the only sane person in this camp, Lo.” Virgil commented as he stared at the black ceiling above him.

Logan walked over to the bone shrine to examine it. “That’s nice to hear, glad I can help you feel more comfortable here.” There seemed to be a mix of animal bones, human bones, small jewels, bits of silver, gold, and what looked to be tiny moving metal statues of scorpions and-

    “SPIDERS!” Virgil swears he saw Logan leap three feet in the air. The son of Athena sprinted out the cabin faster than Virgil could even process what had happened.

“Logan?” Virgil opened the door to see Logan panicking outside, trembling. “Oh gods, Logan, are you ok?” The son of Athena didn’t respond, seemingly frozen in fear. Virgil looked around, hoping to find someone due to having no idea of what to do.

“Uh, shit ok, um…. Lo, Let’s head to the Big House, ok? Maybe they can help or something, uh.” Virgil had planned to try and walk him towards the Big House, hoping Chiron or Mr. D could help but the moment he placed his hand on Logan’s shoulder, the world around them seemed to have vanished, surrounding them in darkness. _This feels familiar…_ The next thing he knew, he was in a wood cabin. But it wasn’t one of the divine god cabins, just a regular cabin. Virgil didn’t have much time to look around before he felt himself get light headed, barely being able to stand as his vision went blurry. The last thing he remembered seeing was a figure wearing pink entering the cabin, saying something he couldn’t exactly make out, before everything went black.

 

   
  


_ Roman made his way down the tunnel, really sure what he was doing there. He saw five black snakes, all of them having red eyes except the biggest one, looking about eleven feet long, having bright gold eyes. Each snake seemed to be whispering but Roman wasn’t able to understand what it was. However, he was able to make out “Lord” and “Our true king”. _

__ _ “Who’s your king?” Roman asked. The snakes all turned to look at him and hissed. The four smaller ones slithered away as the golden eyed one slowly advanced Roman. The son of Ares was unable to move, his feet being so heavy that they couldn’t be picked up. The golden eyes were directly in front of Roman, the snake’s flicking tongue nearly touching him. A shadow appeared at the end of the tunnel, quickly making it’s way towards the two.  _

__ _ “Are you the ‘king’ these serpents speak of?” Roman asked again, trying to seem braver than he felt and ignore the fact that the snake and shadow had the same golden eyes. The shadow stopped right behind the snake, looking down at it and extending its claws to pet the serpent.  _

__ **_“I will be your king as well. It’s only a matter of time.”_ ** _ The shadow’s eyes went back to look at Roman.  _ **_“You and your friends will belong to me. The arrival of Virgil Sanchez will be your downfall.”_ ** _ Snapping it’s ‘fingers’, the shadow disappeared, leaving Roman alone with the snake, who’s whispers had continued, sounding very familiar…  _

__ _ Before Roman could figure out who the snake sounded like, the serpent had begun to hiss. The last thing Roman saw were its fangs as it attacked him. _

  
  
  


__ “Roman?” The son of Ares shot up from his bed, quickly looking around to see who had said his name. “Hey, relax, it’s just me.” It took Roman a while to realize the person speaking was his older brother, Jensen. It took him even longer to realize he was still in Aphrodite’s cabin. 

“Wh-where’s Patton?” Roman asked. 

“He’s with Emile at his cottage.” 

“And Dani?” 

“She’s with Hela, Dallas, and Lune at the campfire.” Jensen replied as calmly as possible. He remained silent for a few minutes as Roman calmed down. “You had another nightmare.” This wasn’t a question.

“...yeah, I did. But that’s all it is, a nightmare.” Roman lied, mainly to himself. He didn’t want it to be anything but a nightmare. 

“Mhmm, and how long have these nightmares been going on?” Jensen asked.

“...six months.” Roman grumbled. 

“Exactly, something’s wrong. No one like us can just have nightmares like these without it being something bigger. Demigods almost never have dreams, they have visions.” Jensen reminded him, “Roman, you need to tell me what’s wrong.” Roman remained seated on the bed, looking down at his feet.

“They’re always slightly different but they’re overall the same. There’s a shadow going around camp and snakes. There’s always those snakes. They whisper in the voices of me and my friends. More recently, one of the snakes got golden eyes and it’s even bigger than before. The shadow even spoke directly to me in my last one, which it’s never done before.” 

“What did it say?” 

“It said that it was going to be my king or something? That’s I’ll belong to it...” Roman thought back to the last thing it said and frowned.  _ “The arrival of Virgil Sanchez will be your downfall.”  _

“Is that all it said?” Jensen asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Uh, yeah.” Roman lied. Something was coming, he could feel it. He was going to keep his friends safe by any means necessary.

“If you’re sure that’s all, let’s head out.” 

“What? Why?” 

“To go get Remy.” Jensen answered as he left the cabin, Roman having to hurry out the door to catch up with him.

“No, it’s fine. We don’t have to bother him with this-” 

“Roman, you haven’t been able to sleep normally for the past three weeks. You need sleep.” 

“Hypocrite.” Roman mumbled. The eldest brother made his way past the other cabins and stopped at Hypnos’, Roman not far behind him. 

“I swear, if he’s not here…” Jensen grumbled as he knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door swung open, soft violin music coming from inside. Remy stood at the entrance, still wearing his shades for some reason. 

“Sup, gurl. Whatcha need?” 

“Hey, Rem, didn’t wanna bother you but I was hoping that maybe you could help Roman with the ‘nightmares’ he’s been having.” Remy didn’t even think before walking straight out the door.

“You’re not bothering me at allllll. I was getting a lil bored anyway. Sleeping all day ain’t exactly the most exciting thing in the world, ya know?” Remy shrugged as he walked towards the Ares cabin.

“Ugh, do I really have to sleep in there?” Roman groaned as he crossed his arms, only causing Jensen to frown.

“It is your cabin and that is your family in there, whether you like it or not. Plus, you can’t sleep in Aphrodite’s cabin for the rest of your life-”

“Wanna bet?” 

“You get caught sleeping in there by someone, you’ll get in trouble and I really don’t want that.” Jensen told him, wrapping his arm around his little brother’s shoulders. “Just for tonight, ok? I just want you to get some sleep.” 

“...I suppose…” Roman sighed.

When the three of them entered the cabin, four others were already in there, all of them kinda doing their own thing. One kid, Gabe, was sitting on his bed, reading some letters he had gotten, Jax and Hunter were in the corner armwrestling, and Morgana was just laying on her bed, blasting the rock music. The four of them turned to look at them, Jax and Hunter immediately began to whisper to each other while Morgana only glared at them and turned back to stare at the ceiling. 

Roman looked over to see his used to be bed being used as some sort of table, covered in weapons, dirty clothes, and other stray objects. 

“You can use my bed, Ro.” Jensen suggested. 

“Awww, poor little RoRo needs to sleep in his big brother’s bed.” Jax mocked from across the room. 

“Aw, the poor baby. Do you need your mommy? Oh, wait.” Hunter sneered. Roman tried to ignore them as he walked over to Jensen’s bed and sat. Roman was so used to the plush beds in the Aphrodite cabin, that this one nearly felt as stiff as a rock.

“Just relax, hun.” Remy whispered soothingly. Roman immediately began to feel drowsy when Remy placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t you have to be an ass somewhere else right now?” Jensen turned towards the other sons of Ares.

“Not until four.” Jax snapped back. Despite their snarky attitudes, both boys yelped when Jensen threw a dagger at them, barely missing Hunter’s ear and stabbing the wall.

“Aw damn, I missed.” The two brothers quickly left the cabin, but not before glaring at both Roman and Jensen. Gabe snorted from the other side of the room while Morgana seemed unamused. When Jensen turned back towards Roman, his little brother was already falling asleep under Remy’s touch. 

“Alright, he should be having dreams for the rest of the night… or whenever he wakes up.” Remy confirmed once Roman was completely asleep. 

“Thanks again, Rem.” 

“No prob, Jen. The kid needs some rest, he’s been having pretty fucked up visions.” 

“You’ve been able to see them?” Jensen asked, looking back down at his little brother.

“I can’t see them fully but I see bits and pieces.” 

“Gabe, Morg, get out.” The two siblings only blinked at Jensen. “I said get the fuck out.” Morgana got off the bed and quietly left, Gabe quickly putting away his letters as he followed her out. “There’s a shadow, right?” Jensen asked once they were gone Remy nodded in response. “Any idea on who it is?” 

“So far, I’ve got nothing. It seems to have a humanoid form but it’s still unidentifiable.” 

“My guess is Erebus. He’s literally the god of Darkness.” Jensen pointed out.

“True, but I can’t confirm anything right now. I can try entering his dreams next time he’s sleeping but I’m not really sure I can enter visions.”  

“Thanks…” Jensen noticed Roman had begun to smile. “What dreams did you give Ro? He seems happy.” 

Remy snorted, “Gurl, I can’t give people certain dreams. That’s all him.” 

“What are they?”

Remy placed his hand on Roman’s shoulder, his a bright light shining from behind his sunglasses, “Without getting too specific, it involves the Oscars, Patton, Logan, and Dani.” 

“Not even me? Rude.” Jensen joked. “At least he’s happy.” 

“Yeah... Also involves Virgil.” 

“What?”

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jensen, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if I got your characterization wrong, I tried.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm shit at writing Fight scenes and writing in general so I hope it came out alright.  
> Correct my spelling you cowards  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
